Portugal Will Present New Experience for Defenders

SEOUL —  The United States opens against Portugal on Wednesday and the American players are gradually coming to grips that they will be facing a team that has an outside chance of winning the World Cup.

Defender Eddie Pope said Thursday that the U.S. players will have to cover for each other if they are to contain the likes of Pauleta, Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Sergio Conceicao.

“We know Portugal has a lot of great players,” he said. “We know Pauleta plays well with his back to the goal, and he obviously is a good finisher. So we know it’s going to be difficult and that they are a great team.

“As a defender going into games like these, you know things are going to happen that you aren’t normally used to and it’s how you deal with those things that can determine how you do in the game.”

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The U.S. coaches have been scouting Portugal for months and studying videotape by the hour. So far, they haven’t found any cracks in the armor.

“When you observe a team of Portugal’s quality, you aren’t going to see too many weaknesses,” said Coach Bruce Arena. “There are a lot of strengths. We are well aware of that.

“Obviously, we will prepare our team accordingly. They have a great team and I know they have aspirations of winning this World Cup, so it will be interesting to see.”

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In its final warm-up game, the U.S. was defeated by the Netherlands, a team that failed to qualify for the World Cup when it finished behind Portugal and Ireland in its qualifying group.

U.S. winger Earnie Stewart, who has played in the Dutch league for more than a dozen years, knows what it took for the Portuguese to oust the Dutch.

“They beat them once and tied them the second time,” he said. “They have an overall good team. It’s probably one of the easiest games we play, though, because they are the favorites [and] we are the underdogs, and anything can happen from there.”

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An MRI test done on goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s left elbow Thursday was negative and the injury he suffered in training Wednesday has been described as a bruise.

Arena said it might affect his choice of starting goalkeeper, however, with Brad Friedel perhaps getting the nod.

“If one is injured and less than 100% and the other is not, then, yes, it would have an impact on the selection,” he said.

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The U.S. players had no plans, as a team, to watch today’s opening game between defending champion France and Senegal, and Arena said it was up to them to decide which matches, if any, they would watch.

“I don’t have control over that,” he said. “Sometimes the other games conflict with what we’re doing. But I think a lot of our players are very interested to see how the other groups fare and they’ll be watching a lot of soccer over the coming weeks.”

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Eleven U.S. players and Arena visited the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea at Panmunjom, Korea.

A traveling party of 23 landed by helicopter on a baseball field at U.S. Army Camp Liberty Bell, where 300 American soldiers are stationed, a short distance from the DMZ. Some of the soldiers said they planned to attend first-round games involving the U.S.